Highlights From the Month of January

It's the last day of January! I thought I would post a few highlights from the month, in order of their occurance.

1. Spending the first moments of the New Year with my very good friend, Amy :D

2. Making a sock puppet show with one of my best friends, Garrett~ it is about the true meaning of Christmas (JESUS!), and it is REALLY funny!

3. Hanging out with friends in general... Kerra got to come over on the 23rd, which was lovely, because she is also one of my very best friends, but like Amy, I don't often get to spend time with her. Also, getting to see friends at High School Game Night, play practices, and other events like that has been fabulous!

4. One of my co-op teachers moved out of state over Christmas break, so two new teachers took over Economics and Writing (the two classes that she had been teaching). I was a little nervous about our second semester of school, and having new teachers... but I LOVE both of my new teachers very much!

5. The Disciple concert on January 21st! It was my 10th time to see the band live! Garrett came along, too! I finally have a friend who likes Disciple, which makes me very happy indeed. Here is a picture of me with the band:



6. BABYSITTING! I love to babysit, and during the last half of this month, I have suddenly been asked to babysit a lot! I have been able to babysit for some of the familes from the Church where I work for the first time, and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity!

7. Seeing snow for the first time this winter on January 27th... there is still a little on the ground right now, but it's melting rapidly. This is a photo I took of the ice on one of our trees:


8. The peace that I have found... this month has probably been the most peaceful month I have had for a long time. God is really working on me, He is putting peace and joy in my heart when it usually would not have been there. He is teaching me to enjoy every area of my life, and teaching me to live each moment to glorify Him. It really changes the way I do things when I think that way.

Praise God for a great start of the year 2009! :)

I AM OVERJOYED!

This past weekend was THE most exciting weekend of my life!

(Okay, so that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much!)

Saturday

Disciple's new CD, "Southern Hospitality" came in the mail!!!

*thinks* (...I'm finding it terribly hard to put into words how exciting this was for me.)

Lets go back...

-On August 18th, I pre-ordered "Southern Hospitality" at a Disciple concert.

-Amber (Wife of Disciple's drummer/Person in charge of merch) told me that I may get the album in the mail BEFORE the 21st.

Now, fast forward to last week:

I was praying, asking God to, "PLEASE let the Disciple CD by Saturday! PLEASE...!"

Saturday afternoon, I was sitting at the computer, listening to the album on Disciple's website, when Abyni came in with the mail. "Spritey, you got a letter... and a package!"

I look over, and recognize my handwriting on the sticker that I filled out to preorder the album- the sticker stuck to the package. That is when I FLIPPED OUT. I screamed, and I got EXTREMELY exuberant. I began to cry tears of immense happiness as I ripped the package open. The package was open. I started crying with a more intense outburst, and thought that was somewhat odd, because I don't generally cry when I'm excited. Soon, my Mom is chasing me around the house with a video camera, making fun of me. (Okay, so the "chasing" may be a little exaggeration, but once again, not very much of one!) I ran to my room, and I literally started sobbing. The whole event was wonderful. It was extreme. It was kinda pathetic. LOL =)

It might be needless to say, but I love the CD =D I have a lot more to say than just, "I love the CD", but I should probably make a seperate post for all of that =)

*Heavy happy sigh* That was a moment that I had been anxiously awaiting for months. OH, and the other letter that I got in the mail was tremendously exciting, as well, but I can't really talk about it yet!

Sunday

On Sunday, I found out news that made me JUST as ecstatic! Well, I was in Church when I found out, so I had a little more self-control, and didn't jump into a fit of WEEPING! LOL...

I can't really give out too many details, but the thing is, I have made this friend named Halle, and she is totally amazing. I am exceedingly thankful for her, and I can't tell you how much so I have been wanting to get to know her better. I found out yesterday that she can come to the Tobymac concert with me the day after my birthday! Seriously, I'm BEYOND EXCITED!!! It's about two hours away, and my friend Garrett is going, too. It's going to be SO MUCH FUN! Not just the concert, but the road trip! I'm absoulutely PSYCHED!!!

*dances!*

(If anyone else would like info on Tobymac concerts, lmk!)

I'M SO HAPPY!!! =D

God is Good

I had a busy weekend! Friday night I went to a football game... I'm NOT a sports person at all, and I planned on just staying home to work on homework for the night. However, about 15 minutes before it started, ERICA came to my house and told me I must come. Erica is my amazing friend who left for college this year, and I have missed her so much! She totally suprised me by showing up at my house, I had no idea she was in town! It was a fabulous suprise! I was BEYOND excited to see her! Oh yeah, I had fun at the game, too. I didn't really pay any attention to the game, actually. I was having a blast with my friends instead. That is why it was fun! Haha =)

On Saturday, I went to a suprise birthday party for my friend Mariah. It was lovely! It was a very girly party, with massages, make-up, hair styling, chocolate covered strawberries, and all of that fun stuff!

Saturday night was the "Hallelujah Barn Party". A sweet family from our homeschool group opens up their "barn" once a year for us home-school group members, and it's really fun! This year Garrett, Chyanne & Riley came with us, and it was a lot of fun! Cat was there, and Caitlin was there, too, but I didn't get to talk to her very much =( The ride HOME was the best thing, because Garrett & I made some HYSTERICALLY funny videos! We were singing Amazing Grace "opera" style, and it was SO hilarious!!

On Sunday, I served in "Toon Town" (the class for 6-9 year olds) at our Church, and I got a present! This sweet little boy gave me a ring! Lol =) I thanked him tremendously, of course, and it was funny, because he was like, "Miss Sprite, I know you think this is one of those CHEAP rings, but you don't understand! This was EXPENSIVE! I know you think I got this out of one of those 25 cent machines, but really, I got it out of a 50 CENT machine! It cost a LOT!" =)

Something cute happened on Sunday night, too. (I work doing childcare on Sunday nights) I was letting this girl color on my arm with markers, and all of the sudden, she gasped, and our conversation went like this:

K: "My goodness, Miss Sprite! You have a LOT of sprinkles!"

Sprite: "Sprinkles?"

K: "Oh, yes! You have so many sprinkle-dots!"

Sprite: "OH, you mean FRECKLES?"

K: "Oh yeah! That's what I meant!"


I LOVED THAT! Sprinkles instead of freckles! How cute! I've got "Sprinkle-dots" =) Haha... I so love my job!

Random note: I really like notebooks, funky pens, and writing when it is enjoyable. I love making lists and planning things.

I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT DISCIPLE'S NEW CD COMING OUT IN EIGHT DAYS!!!

BY the way, something has got me thinking lately. It has started to bother me how often I use phrases without paying attention to what they mean. Like "by the way". I say "Oh my goodness" frequently, and I just thought about what it meant! Haha! I have decided that I should make up my own fun phrases, & hopefully everyone else will not steal them =/ I wouldn't mind it too much, but if I made up amazing phrases, and everyone started saying them, they wouldn't be unique for very long!

Well, I shall end my post with two quotes:

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." -Maya Angelou

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone." -Audrey Hepburn

Be blessed!

The Death of a Car and the Birth of a Baby!

My friend Garrett invited me to go to his Church's youth event last night. My brothers and I went, but on the way, something went dreadfully wrong. The van died TWO times while I was driving! This predicament was very dramatic, and I felt like playing a dramatic-sounding song. The second time it happened, I was in a turning lane, and it was a pretty gigantic deal. Thankfully, a tow truck was nearby, so the tow truck person came to help us out! Is that a God thing or what? Thank you tow truck person! Most importantly, thank You GOD! :)

The whole situation freaked me out, though. You see, it wasn't scary yesterday, because my Mom was with me, and she knew what to do. The thing is, I had planned on getting my liscense this Monday, or at least VERY SOON, and I would have had NO IDEA how to handle a situation like that! I didn't even know what had happened. That is why it freaked me out.

In happier news, Julie Young, who is the wife of Kevin Young (a.k.a. the lead singer/songwriter/preacher of my favorite band, DISCIPLE) had her BABY on Monday! *screams* I literally cried tears of immense joy for them. Avery Rayne Young was born on Sep. 22nd, which is two months before my birthay... hehe... she has the same date as me!! 22 :D LOL!!! My Mom is going to give me such a hard time!

Seriously, I am SO happy for them, I desperately want to see more pictures of this girl, and pictures of her with her Mommy and Daddy... I want to hear her laugh, and I want to HOLD her! I wonder what she will be like when she is older. I know that is not exactly living in the moment, I'm just curious to see her personality and character, and see what ways she looks like her Mom and Dad.

Oh goodness! Babies are just beyond wonderful!! I love them SO much! Sometimes it's harder to love them, like when:

A) You have tried for so long, and with all of your might to get them to stop crying, and SLEEP, but they rebel, and refuse to do such an awful sounding thing.

B) They throw up all over you. This is esp. horrid if you are holding them up in the air, and you have your mouth open, because you are saying something like "Weee!", or "Yay!", and all of the sudden, there is not such a great taste in your mouth... :-P

C) They put chunks of little baby carrots and slime in your waterbottle. You don't find out about it until you personally taste the flavor of your H2O.

These experiences sound quite unpleasant, and I cringe thinking about them. Nonetheless, I love babies all the same. I thank God for Avery, and pray that she would be a very godly and blessed girl, and I pray for Kevin and Julie, that they may train their daughter up in the way she should go.

Goodness, having a child would be such an immense blessing, and such a change in a person's life! A good change, though :) Praise God!

Disciple News!

*Squeal*

For about the past year, I have been DESPERATELY wanting to get a video called "72 Hours with Disciple". I asked about it at concerts and stuff... and nothing really seemed to want to work out. I almost simply gave up hope about getting it. I REALLY wanted/want it, though.

Anyway, yesterday I was on the Disciple forum, and I found out that they have some available that they are selling!!! I literally made myself sick from excitement! I CAN'T WAIT! Now I'm all nervous about my check getting lost in the mail, or whatever could possibly happen. LOL :) I am BEYOND excited about it, though!


Not only that, but they are coming out with a NEW CD! Anyone who knows me at all can probably imagine how excited I am! At first I was excited, and then I got nervous. (Lol, I guess my Mom is right, I am neurotic) The thing is, I was extremely excited about Kutless' cd, and when it came out, it made me less of a Kutless fan :( And seriously, it's not just that I wasn't a big Kutless fan to begin with. I was a HUGE Kutless fan. Now I don't even consider them one of my favorite bands. I have nothing AGAINST them or whatever, I think they are amazing people... I just... I don't know what it is. Anyway, I DON'T want that to happen with Disciple! I have decided that I think the album will be good... they played a song from "Southern Hospitality" at the concert I went to on the 18th, and I REALLY liked it. So I'm excited, and I'm not really worried about it at all anymore! I cannot begin to tell you how curious I am about it, however :) I'm curious about the lyrics, and the soft songs.

I will tell you one thing... I'm getting SO TIRED of buying CDs that I get tired of after a couple of DAYS! I'm so thankful that this is coming out in 2 months... (Oh my gosh- I have to wait TWO MONTHS!!!) because I'm getting terribly despearate for a good cd that will stay "good" longer than A FEW DAYS.

Oh! Guess what? Another thing about the AMAZING concert on the 18th... a few of the members of Disciple remembered my name! (For the 2nd time) There is another reason to be happy about the unusual name my parents chose for me! LOL :D

I'm really quite fond of Disciple at this moment. I mean, I often am. But it seems different now. I've been a fan of their's for what seems like a LONG time, and they recognize and even remember my name at concerts now! It's like we are almost friends! :) Hahaha...



Praise God :D

Lord Jesus,

I want to be Your witness. I want more than anything to be used by You. Show me how much things of this world DO NOT matter. Please help my life to be guided and motivated by the Eternal, not by the temporal. I could be used by You to be making so much more of a difference for Your Kingdom if I wasn't so wrapped up in pleasing MYSELF. Like Your Word says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, as long as I allow You to be in my life, You let my heart reflect more and more of You. God, I need to have more anticipation when it comes to spending time with You. Please don't let me ever begin to forget what a huge deal spending time with You is. Please help me never put You aside. I don't want to make my school-work more important than You this year. Teach me how You are ALL that matters.

Please help me to be a contagious Christian. I want others to see me, and know that me and You are "tight". NOT so that I may get glory at all, but so that others can see You in my life and want what I've got. So that they can realize how much they NEED what I've got. It hurts SO much to see people who don't know You. Please, dear God, PLEASE use me to reach those people.

Please help me to never lose sight of You. I will never comprehend how good You are while I'm on this earth. You are SO good. I love You so much. Please teach me and show me what it means to truly love You even more.

I'm desperate.

I cannot thank You enough for Disciple, God. Thank You so much for using them. Please bless them and continue guiding them along the right paths for their lives. I pray that they would never stop seeing changed lives.

In the mighty Name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

My First Blogspot Post!

Today I was looking at lyrics from a Disciple song called "Fall on Me". It goes like this:

Take my eyes from me, so I will see in Spirit
Change my mind to think, on what You see fit
The heavens declare Your glory, but does my witness
May You be glorified in me, Lord may I be blameless

Chorus
Fall on me

I am available to do Your will
In my life I pray Your Word is fulfilled...

And it continues.

Goodness gracious! Lyrics like that REALLY stir up a passion in me! I dug deep into each verse, and oh goodness! Aren't those awesome lyrics?! The "I am available to do Your will" part made me wonder...

#1: AM I making myself available to do God's Will?

#2: What IS God's will for my life?

#3: How does this apply to RIGHT NOW?

& #4: What changes should I make in my life to better live out God's will?

One of the first things God pointed out to me is that He wants a relationship with me. This is part of His will for my life. There are too many days that go by in my life where I decide to pass on my Bible time, or wait until the "next day" to write in my prayer journal, because I am "too tired" or "too busy" at the current moment. So I decided to make it a number 1 priority to do prayer, Bible & devotional time every day. I usually do, but I have found it too easy to put time with God aside some days because of my selfishness. I think I'd rather sit around and do nothing. So, there is one change in my life that I can make. There are so many more that I need to make, though. I cannot believe how selfish I am!

The current series at our Church is called "Fanatic". The main point of the series is that there is a war going on for our worship. Satan tries to get us to worship anything or anyone other than God, where as God wants to have all of our worship. He is the only one worthy of our worship. Today our campus Pastor was talking about how his wife is fanatical about George Clooney, and one time, she got a chance to meet him. She was, of course, delighted, and was not only going to NOT pass on the offer, but of course she was rushing & very excited about this chance that she got. Pastor Tome made a good point that we need to be like that with God. If I was offered the chance to go spend a day with a member of Disciple, I would flip out, and be beyond excited! Which isn't a bad thing, of course, but then I think... I am offered time with GOD every single day! The Creator of the Universe, the Almighty and merciful God! The only one worthy of my worship. I TURN THAT AWAY! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would DO that? What kind of logic is that? Seriously!

Lord Jesus, please teach me what it means to truly love You. Make me FANATICAL about You!